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Kremlin Censorship Comes to Crimea: Local TV silenced amid media blackout
A French television journalist who had been detained in Ukraine #39;s Crimea has been set free days after Reporters Without Borders warned that media is being ta...
By: JewishNewsOne
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Kremlin Censorship Comes to Crimea: Local TV silenced amid media blackout - Video
The Golden Bear winner at the Berlin Film Festival, Black Coal, Thin Ice, Diao Yinan's offbeat contemporary noir, will be released in China on March 21, having cleared censorship.
PHOTOS: 25 of the Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2014
There had been concerns that the movie might not make it past the Film Bureau because the subject matter of the film examines contemporary Chinese issues, which is not always a favored theme for the censors.
Lead actor Liao Fan, who plays an alcoholic former detective in the quirky noir movie, won the Silver Bear for best actor, the first Chinese actor to win in this category.
Black Coal, Thin Ice was the fourth mainland Chinese movie to win the Golden Bear, after Xie Fei's Women From the Lake of Scented Souls in 1993, Zhang Yimou's Red Sorghum in 1988 and Wang Quan'an's Tuya's Marriage in 2007.
The coal mining industry is politically sensitive in China, and the government doesn't like movies set in the business. There have been numerous corruption cases centered around private mine owners in northeast China as well as appalling mine disasters because owners cut costs in the wrong places.
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The film's producer and director had previously said the movie had passed censorship, but no date had been formalized.
Another film that was in competition at Berlin was Ning Hao's No Man's Land. It had been banned for over four years for its "nihilist" theme, before finally securing a release in recent months. A previous Silver Bear winner, 2003's Blind Shaft by Li Yang, which also took place in the mining industry, was banned in China.
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'Black Coal, Thin Ice' Clears China Censorship, Gets March Release Date
Xbox One Media Remote Unboxing
I unbox the Xbox One remote, the all-in-one media control system. Retails at at $23.99 at Best Buy. Looking for a remote that can control all of the devices ...
By: vivalagomez
Originally posted here:
Xbox One Media Remote Unboxing - Video
The landscape of media freedom in Southeast Asia shows a mix of government regimes and media systems. To provide a regional perspective is therefore a complex task.
The Freedom House Index ranks countries according to state of political and civic liberties available to citizens, along with a ranking of press freedom. The classifications are three: Free, Partly Free and Not Free states. Of the ten states in the ASEAN, no country is currently classified as Free. Only three make it as Partly Free: East Timor, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Freedom House continues to classify Burma as Not Free, despite the dramatic changes that have been initiated by government to open up society. As such, it is not doing any worse than other countries, and perhaps trailing behind only three.
One obvious view is to see Myanmar still very much in tune with the rest of the region which has long favored authoritatrian control, the curbing of human rights, and governments for politicians rather than for the people.
One can quarrel with the system of measurements of Freedom House, but that is another discussion.. In fact, Southeast Asia boasts of three de-facto three press systems for some time, but the situation even in Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, joined later by Timor Leste, reflects the global decline of press freedom all around the world. This downward trend in the quality of media freedom are measured by setbacks, such as the political turmoil in Thailand which has enhanced the application of lese majeste laws, and the impact of a younger generation distaste for the mainstream media.
Even in free systems such as India and the Philippines, where the free press tradition has had the longest histories in Asia, there are other pressures restraining media freedom, including religious and social traditions, the interlocking economic and political interests of owners, media corruption, commercialism and outmoded news conventions that focus on personality, color and conflict, which leave many significant stories un-reported and prevents a news agenda more responsive to public needs.
Anything we say about Myanmar from around the three ASEAN countries, cannot be said with condescension that comes from superior ranking of freedom. The Philippines may be proud to claim the most libertarian Constitution with clear provisions for protecting press freedom from government interference. But Filipino journalists continue to be vulnerable to violent attacks, to be subject to imprisonment for defamation under the criminal libel law. Along with Not Free countries in ASEAN, we do not have a Freedom of Information Act. Sadly, the region has not set a very good example for Myanmar to follow.
Initiatives and gains
But the political initiatives taken by Myanmar in 2011 seem to secure certain gains. The national mood has lifted, breaking the long-standing malaise of repression with visible and audible hope in a radically new future.
Personally, I remain optimistic about official intentions. Surely, officials know that once released, the freedom genie cannot be summoned back to the bottle. As an exile journalist returning to his country put it: The process may be slow, it may be even stalled. But it will be very difficult to stop.
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Myanmar media: In sweet spot of transition
AFP Syria army recaptures rebel bastion Yabrud
Yabrud (Syria) (AFP) - Syria's army and Lebanon's Hezbollah seized full control of rebel bastion Yabrud on Sunday, dealing the opposition a strategic blow in the Qalamoun region along the Lebanese border.
An AFP reporter entered the town after the army declared it had captured the opposition stronghold north of Damascus, in a symbolic victory a day after the third anniversary of the outbreak of Syria's conflict.
Exhausted Syrian soldiers sat in the streets after seizing the town in fierce clashes with the support of battle-hardened fighters from Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah and pro-regime militiamen.
"It was a very difficult battle, possibly the most difficult we have faced," a soldier who identified himself as Abu Mohammed told AFP in Yabrud's central square between puffs from a water-pipe.
Earlier, the army announced it had "returned security and stability" to the town and its surroundings.
"This new success... is an important step towards securing the border area with Lebanon, and cutting off the roads and tightening the noose around the remaining terrorist cells in Damascus province," the military added, using the regime's term for rebels.
While scores of soldiers and fighters wearing different kinds of uniforms were seen in Yabrud, not one civilian could be spotted anywhere.
Graffiti in the colours of the pro-revolt flag still adorned the heavily damaged town's walls, while fighter jets were heard overhead.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group relying on a network of contacts inside Syria, said Hezbollah had led the operation and that fighting was ongoing on the outskirts of the town.
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Syria army in full control of rebel town Yabrud: state TV